Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater held its season preview Thursday, introducing two works, Ulysses Dove’s “Bad Blood,” restaged by Masazumi Chaya, and excerpts of Matthew Rushing’s “Odetta,” based on the life of Odetta Holmes.

Rushing told us he didn’t know much about the singer and civil-rights activist, but did his research.

“I basically learned through YouTube clips,” Rushing said. “I ran across any kind of ­interview footage and went to different podcasts . . . Then I kind of learned about her through her ­music. I just listened to her music for hours and hours on end until I got an idea of who she was as an artist and a person.”